Latest AI News

Claude Deepens Integration with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint

Anthropic announced new updates that tightly link its Claude AI assistant with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. The enhancements let users maintain a single, continuous conversation across both applications, eliminating repetitive copy‑and‑paste. Claude can read spreadsheet data and insert it directly into presentations, while reusable "Skills" let organizations save and share automated workflows with a single click. A preloaded set of starter Skills for common tasks is also included. The features are available to paid‑plan users on both Mac and Windows platforms.

U.S. Government Shifts AI Tools: Claude Dropped, ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot Approved

The State Department has removed Anthropic’s Claude model from its internal chatbot after a directive from President Trump. The Treasury and Health & Human Services departments are also ending Claude use, urging staff to adopt ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Meanwhile, the Senate has approved the use of Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot for official work, outlining specific tasks for the tools. The changes reflect a broader realignment of AI policy across federal agencies.

Breakout Ventures Closes $114 Million Fund III to Back AI‑Driven Science Startups

Breakout Ventures has closed a $114 million Fund III aimed at early‑stage startups that apply artificial intelligence to scientific fields such as biology and chemistry. The firm, which spun out of a Thiel Foundation grant program, has already written checks to three companies and plans to invest in at least 20 companies, with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $5 million. Limited partners include The Kraft Group, Pinegrove Venture Partners and S‑Cubed Capital. Managing Director Lindy Fishburne emphasized the firm’s focus on founders who can unlock complex scientific problems with AI.

Replit Secures $400 Million Series D, Valued at $9 B

Replit announced a $400 million Series D funding round that lifts its valuation to $9 billion. The round was led by Georgian Partners and included investors such as G Squared, Prysm Capital, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, Y Combinator, Accenture Ventures, Okta Ventures, and Databricks Ventures. Founder and CEO Amjad Masad noted additional backing from angel investors Shaquille O’Neal and Jared Leto. The new capital follows a previous $250 million raise that pushed the company’s valuation to $3 billion and placed its annualized revenue on track for $150 million, with a goal of $1 billion in annual recurring revenue by year‑end.

Grammarly Halts Expert Review Feature Amid Expert Concerns

Grammarly announced that it is disabling its Expert Review AI agent after receiving critical feedback from experts who said the tool misrepresented their voices. CEO Shishir Mehrotra explained that the company will rethink the feature to give experts real control over how, or if, their knowledge is used. The move reflects Grammarly’s commitment to responsible AI use and opens the platform for experts who want to build their own agents while maintaining full authority over representation.

Nvidia Commits $26 B to Open-Weight AI Model Development

Nvidia announced a $26 billion investment over the next five years to create open-weight artificial‑intelligence models, marking a shift from pure chip manufacturing to a broader AI research role. The company unveiled Nemotron 3 Super, its most capable open‑weight model to date, featuring 128 billion parameters and claiming top performance on several benchmarks. Executives highlighted the strategic aim of fostering an ecosystem that leverages Nvidia’s hardware while offering publicly available model weights for startups and researchers. Industry observers see the move as a significant signal of Nvidia’s commitment to openness and a potential counterbalance to Chinese open‑source AI efforts.